Thermostat adjustment indicator



Gd. 4, 1949. w. E. JENKINS ET AL THERMOSTAT ADJUSTMENT INDICATOR Filed Oct. 29, 1945 //V 1 EN 7055 THE'ODO? WAYNE E. JENK/NS Patented Oct. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES ,ENT OFFICE Wayne E. Jenkins and Theodore H. Thiele, Los

sl s Oal fl, as c s, by 5 a si nments, to C. I. T. Corporation, a corporation Application October 29, 1945, Serial No. 625,213

The invention relates to temperature regulating devices and more particularly to. the. mode of attachment and the. operation of the thermostat adjustment indicator ofsuch devices.

An object of the invention is to provide. a thermostat constructionof the character described inwhich the several parts herein involved are so constructed and arranged, and coact in such a manner as afford; a more compact association of the parts and a substantial reduction in size ofthe device, a fewer number of parts which may be sturdily formed to insure substantially unlimited life, and a simplification and reduction n east at th an assembl o t device. 1

The vention no sesses ether Q iett and tures of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following descript an oi the p efe ed form o the. in on which is i u t at d n he d awin s acco a n and formin part of t e pec fica ion- It 9 derstood. wever. tha va iation in h I Q me made by the said drawin s a d s ri ti may be ad pt d. within t e sco e of t e in e t on as. set forth n the claim- R t rine to. sa d ra in s Figure 1 is a side elevation of a temperature regulating device showing the invention, with portions of the device shown in cross section to better illustrate the construction and operation of certain of the parts.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device shown in Figure l with a portion of the indicator dial shown in section.

The temperature regulating device shown in the r accompanying drawings is of the type, and is adapted for the purpose, fully shown and described in Patent No. 2,238,837, issued April 15, 1941, to Sidney P. Vaughn and Wayne E. Jenkins. Reference is made to this patent for a fuller showing and description of parts of the device not specifically involved in the present application.

The temperature regulating device shown in the drawing is a water heater thermostat and comprises a valve body or casing I which is provided with a threaded boss 2 adapted to be threaded into an appropriate threaded flange or fitting on the side of a water heater storage tank so as to seal within the tank, for submergence in the water contained therein, the temperature responsive element 3 of the device. This element is here composed of the conventional rod 4 and tube 6 type wherein the tube is formed of a metal having a relatively high coefiicient of heat expansion were. en ma 2 such as copper, and the rod is formed of a material having a low coefficient of heat expansion such-asinvar steel. The rod l, extends, through thecasing l, to and from the front face I of; the casing and is operatively connected within the casing to a, snapeaction device which in turn operates, through a lever B, a gas shut-off valve 9 contained within a valve chamber ll in the easing. For the construction and operation of the snap-action device, the lever and the valve reference is made to the above-mentioned Patent No. 2,238,837. Likewise reference. is made to that patent for a description of the opening and closing of the valve 9 in accordance with the ternperature of the water heated within the. tank as accomplished by the relative longitudinal movement. of the rod 4; and tube 6. It will be noted that one end 52 of the rod is threadedly connected to the tube so that the relative longitudinal position ofthe rod with respect to the tube can be ad- -justed by rotation of the rod relative to the tube and in this manner determine the temperature at which the device operates to open and close the valve 9. The description of this operation is also contained in the aforesaid Patent No.

There is secured to the forward end 13 of the rod projecting from the side 1 of the casing, a collar or head member M which is adapted to receive a hub portion l6 of a rotatable temperature regulating member l1, here shown in the form of a hand engaging dial. As will be noted from Figure 2, the dial hub I6 and the head member [4 are held against relative rotation by means of a chordal flat [8 provided on the engaging surfaces of these members. The head member may be secured rigidly to the rod end H5 in any suitable manner such as by the set screw l9 here shown. Retention of the dial H on the head member in its proper position is here effected by a spring retainer ring 2! carried in an annular channel 22 in the dial hub l6 and snapping over and engaging a beveled or chamfered surface 23 on the back or inside corner of the head member l4.

An indicator pointer 2 projecting from the casing l at the periphery of the dial ll co-acts with a suitable legend 26 provided on the face of the dial near the periphery thereof to indicate the temperature setting of the device. Gas inlet and discharge passages 2'5 and 28 are provided in the casing l and are communicated therein to opposite sides of the valve 9, being adapted. for connection to a source of gaseous fuel and to the burner of the water heater so that the flow of gas to the burner will be under the control of the valve 9.

The valve chamber l I is provided in the casing I adjacent the front face I of the casing and is closed thereat by a closure plug 29 threadedly attached to the casing at the valve chamber. It will be noted that the spacing between the rod end [3 and the closure 29 is such, relative to the diameter of the dial I! and closure 29, that 'a part of the dial overlies a part of the closure. Advantage is taken of this relationship to provide means for limiting the extent of rotation of the dial. As will be noted from'IF-igi rel the closure plug 29 is provided with arim'prfiangeportion 3| which protrudes from the face I of the casing and a portion of this rimnjenters, a'r'ecess 232 formed in the inside face of the dial [1 at its periphery for a segment of the circumference of the dial. This recess provides at its opposite sides, a pair of circumferentially spaced shoulders 32 and 33 which on appropriate rotation of the dial come into contact "with the rim 3-l of the closure to thereby stop further rotation of the dial. -The partsare so arranged that the shoulder 32 will move against therim 3| and serve as a stop when the dial-is rotated to the cold position of the control and shoulder 33 will be moved into engagement with the 'rim 3| to serve as a stop when the dialfis rotated in an opposite direction to the"hot'position of the control.

It Will be noted from-the foregoing that the relative positioning functioning and co-action of the above described parts reduces-the number of previously requiredparts to a minimum and permits a much closer-relationship of the several parts'affording a more compact unit, that the mode of attachment and operation of the parts afford a simplicity in-manufacture and assembly and disassembly as has not heretoforebeen attained, and that the parts are simply and ruggedly constructed so a's'to insure positiveoperation throughout a substantially unlimited life. --'We claimr A temperature-regulating devicecomprising, a

casing formed with a valve chamber and having 4 inlet and discharge passages connected to said chamber, a valve mounted in said chamber and movable to passage-opening and passage-closing position therein, said chamber opening to a side of said casing, a plug-type closure member connected to said casing for closing said cham r and having a" rim portion protruding from sa d casing side, a *rotatable temperature regulating member carried by said casing having an operating connection .to said valve and provided with a rotating part extending exteriorly from said casin'g'sidewith the axis of rotation of said part spaced laterally from said closure rim portion, --and--=a -manually engageable disk-shaped dial member secured-to said part for rotation therewith and positioned with the interior facing of saidmember in closely spaced relation to said casing side and having a diameter sufiicient to overlie a circumferential portion of said closure rim portion, said dial member being formed with -va' :peripheral flangezintersecting. said. closure .rim portion, said; fiangemeingtrelieved overla portion Number 21*; mine 2,172,977 I Sept. 12, 1939 2,235,210 Mar." 18, 1941 2,303,910 I I Dec. 1, I942 

